Success Stories

Karen M

Title: ROV pilot and maintenance technician
Company: Allseas Group

Karen travels the world working as a pilot "flying" underwater
robots (ROVs) which are used to monitor underwater pipe laying. She
is also responsible for maintaining and repairing the ROVs onboard
the ship. Since they are out at sea, Karen needs to be very
self-reliant when troubleshooting problems and implementing fixes.
She says "Good troubleshooting skills are paramount to any
technical job, especially on a ship where the equipment and
supplies are not always plentiful. Sierra College really provided a
place for me to practice and refine those skills." She adds that
"My job really kicks ass!"

Shane's job is to calibrate and provide preventative maintenance
for industrial grade sensor equipment that in turn, through
computer control, activates or shuts down various processes which
make sure that the quality of Roseville water adheres to State
regulation. By being cross-trained in both electrical and
mechanical skills, he is qualified to address virtually any
technical challenge that he may face. Shane says, "The Sierra
College Mechatronics program taught me the multiple skills and
thought processes necessary to approach my new (well paid) career
with confidence."

Nick B

Title: Maintenance Technician
Company: Anheuser-Busch (Fairfield, CA)

Nick is working on a wide range of tasks in Anheuser-Busch's
bottling plant in Fairfield, CA including instrumentation
(calibration and ranging of sensors, etc.), PLC programming and a
wide array of electrical and mechanical tasks. His work truly spans
the full range of the field of mechatronics. With machines that can
fill and cap 26 cans per second, the equipment he works on is
state-of-the-art industrial automation. Nick enjoys his new career
and the new challenges it brings him every day. And with a starting
hourly payrate of $27.75 an hour ($57k per year), technician jobs
at companies like Anheuser-Busch show that a mechatronics education
can be financially rewarding as well.

Kent N

Title: Technican (Level 2)

Company: POS Portal (Sacramento)

Kent's job is to troubleshoot, repair and refurbish
Point-Of-Sale (POS) credit card and debit card machines. His daily
work involves electrical and mechanical repair, reading of
schematics, detailed electrical soldering and a wide array of other
mechatronics skills. Kent was one of 52 applicants for this job and
his supervisor told him the reason he got the job over the other
applicants was that he brought in some of the projects he
built as a student in our program. Those projects were concrete
evidence that Kent had the electrical and mechanical skills needed
and also that he understood the value of high-quality
workmanship. Kent says "Being able to learn quickly
is important in this job and the knowledge and
skills gained at Sierra College gave me the foundation needed
to learn new skills quickly".

Michael B

Title: Engineering Student

School: Brigham Young University

After studying mechatronics at
Sierra College, Michael decided to continue his studies, pursuing a
bachelor's degree in engineering at Brigham Young
University.

Studying mechatronics at Sierra
College helped Michael be confident that engineering was
the educational path that he wanted to follow. Engineering is
always a challenging major, but Michael reports that "The education
I recieved in Sierra's Mechatronics program really helped
prepare me for the challenges of engineering
school. The course content and the hands-on work at
Sierra proved to be very helpful in keeping up with the
fast-paced classes I am taking now."

Heathere S

Title: Production
Technician

Company: Nestle Waters (Sacramento)

Heathere works for Nestle Waters on their water bottling
equipment. She is responsible for keeping production up and running
on her equipment including identification and correction of any
electrical or mechanical problems.

Heathere says "Once the folks at Nestle realized all the skills
a Mechatronics education included, they were confident I would be a
good fit and be able to handle any technical challenge that came my
way."

Update: Nestle was so happy with
Heathere and the education she received at Sierra, that they have
since hired three more of our mechatronics graduates as full-time
technicians and two more for seasonal help!

Another Update: Less than 6 months after
being hired, Heathere was promoted to a higher level of
responsibility and received a sizeable pay raise with it.
Congratulations, Heathere!

Kevin fabricates automated equipment used to sort large and
small lumber. Soon he will be updating the entire Lincoln mill
to the newest Allen-Bradley PLC systems that can speed up the
cutting process and have the ability to work on the system from any
computer on the network. Cutting an entire tree into finished
lumber in seconds requires very high-power, precision controlled
equipment. It is a great example of mechatronic systems on the
job.

Kevin says "I am using my knowledge from Sierra College everyday
to fabricate new electrical equipment that is used to sort, move,
band and package units of lumber from 4 feet to 26 feet.
Without my training from the mechatronics program I couldn't have
got this job."

Mitchell was already an experienced machinist/welder with some
millwright experience when he enrolled in our program to broaden
his skill set. After graduation he was hired by Vannelli
Foods to perform all the maintenance, and repairs on mechanical,
electrical, and control systems required to keep the plant
operational. He also works on expanding the plants
operational capabilities by installing new and refurbished
equipment. Mitchell says,"Without the education I received at
Sierra, I wouldn't have the range of knowledge and skills to do
this work. I keep learning more on the job all the time. I love
this job and the wide range of tasks I get to do every day."

Update: Less than one year after being
hired, Mitchell was promoted to Maintenace Manager.
Congratulations, Mitchell! This is a great example how a
mechatronics education can be a great addition to other technical
and workplace skills you may already have, leading you to an even
better career!

Josh I

Title: Lift Maintenance Technician
Company: Mammoth Mountain Ski Area

Josh's goal when he entered our program was to work where he
wanted to live, outdoors in the mountains around Mammoth Mountain
Ski Area. He worked hard to learn as much as possible from his
studies and with some perseverance after graduation, he obtained a
position at Mammoth as a maintenance technician. Josh says "The
real-world skills I learned at Sierra College were exactly what I
needed to obtain this job. I love living and working in this area
and studying Mechatronics at Sierra College got me on the path to
make it happen."

Brandon S

Title: Field Technician /
Electrician

Company: D3 LED (Rancho
Cordova)

Brandonworks for D3 LED.
They make the large animated lighted signs you see everywhere
from Raley Field to Times Square in New York City. In fact, they
designed and installed over 80% of the animated signs in Times
Square! These signs (which can be 30,000 square feet or larger) are
a complex mixture of electronic components, computer hardware,
electrical power and mechanical framing structures. They are a
great example of the blend of technologies that encompass
mechatronics. Brandon says: "I love this job. The best part is that
I get to travel all over the country from New York to Texas
to Oregon constructing, installing and maintaining these
signs. And I get to work with all kinds of electrical wiring,
computer routers, cabling and fiber optics. I even get to do
welding and work with cranes! The education I received in the
Sierra College mechatronics program set me up so that I am ready
for just about anything they throw at me!"

John-Mark M

Title: Mechatronics Engineering Student

School: California State University - Chico

John-Mark is working on getting his bachelor's degree in
Mechatronics Engineering at CSU-Chico. John-Mark says: "Starting my
engineering education in the Sierra College Mechatronics program
definitely gave me an advantage with my schooling now. Having a
solid knowledge of the basics from Sierra is allowing me to learn
the complex new material here at the fast pace they expect us to
pick it up. In one digital electronics lab, my partner (another
Sierra Mechatronics graduate) and I were the only ones to
succesfully complete the lab!"

Tyler W

Title: Technician:

Company: Cique du Soleil

Tyler works as a technician with Cirque du Soleil in Las Vegas
and is part of the crew that keeps the shows running smoothly.
If you have ever seen a Cirque show, you are probably not surprised
that they are using the most high-tech automation equipment
available anywhere. And their pay and benefits package is
outstanding. When Cirque came to Sierra College Mechatronics to
recruit employees, they said that our program is one of three in
the entire United States providing this level of training. Tyler
loves the work he does and the opportunities that this career is
providing to him and his family.

Update: Cirque was so happy with Tyler that they have hired
another Sierra Mechatronics graduate. Congratulations, Jaques
G!

Brandon O

Title: Designer

Company: Smartrise Engineering

Brandon works for Smartrise Engineering, designing elevator
controllers. He started about 1.5 years ago in tech
support answering phones, but rapidly moved into field support
and quickly becoming the "go to" guy for technical
troubleshooting. He made a point of studying their microcontroller
programming and became their local expert on VFD control of motors.
He then took on a project rewriting their controller code, earning
the company a national safety certification for their products. It
was obvious from the start that Brandon was a very bright guy, he
just needed somewhere to learn the basics.

A quote from Brandon's latest email update: " I work directly
under the owners of the company, have my own office and am very
well taken care of. I love my job, it has a blend of everything.
MCU's, Drives, PLD's, Motors, Relays, Hydraulics, etc.. You and
the mechatronics program were a great influence in helping me get
here. I will always appreciate the program. The best news out of
all of this is they want me to get my engineering degree. I start
at Sac State this Fall (Computer Engineering) and they are giving
me the time I need off to go to classes. Thank you again for all
that you have made possible."

More To Come!

There are too many great stories about our graduates to tell
them all here, but hopefully the examples above give you an idea of
the possibilities. Besides all the companies listed
above, our graduates have been hired by Schilling
Robotics, Michrom Bioresources, Telefunken Semiconductor, Harris
& Bruno International, Ceronix, Sugar Bowl Ski Resort, Linear
Design Group, Alameda Electric, Solar Edge Technologies and
many others. We have graduates working at over 50 local technical
companies and the list grows every day.

We can't promise an amazing career to every student that
enrolls in our program, but we can promise to provide you with the
same training and hands-on skills that all of these
people received. After that, your career opportunities
are only limited by your motivation, aptitude and imagination.